Growing Amaryllis
by Vindicated Irony
Summary: It's like when you get a can of coke for someone and you shake it up so it fizzes into their face when they open it. But instead everything goes wrong and you drop it and it explodes everywhere. It's sticky and messy. It's shocking. And really, it's not as sweet as you'd thought it would be. -Self Insert SI Genres might change as time goes on.
1. Chapter 1

**I know. I need to stop with the new stuff, but I can't help it!**

**First the names:**

**(SI) Nozomi 望み [wish, desire] Nasake 情け [warmth, compassion, empathy]**

**(Mother) Omoi 思い [feelings, thought, desire, mind, love, heart]**

**(Father) Raise 仏臭い [otherworldly]**

* * *

_"You might want to lie down," Magnus advised. "I find that it helps when the crushing sense of horrible realization sets in." _  
**_ ― Cassandra Clare, City of Ashes_**

* * *

The concept of death was easy to understand, at least, I had thought so. Supposedly when you died you went into nothingness or heaven, or somewhere else; really, I'd never put much though into it.

Hey, why would I? I never thought that I would die young. Though, I suppose it might be better than being all wrinkled and not able to do much, but what am I to say?

The point is: when you die, you don't come back to life.

Right?

Wrong.

At least, in my case anyways; it was odd, being born and actually remembering it. Well, part of it. I'm just glad a baby's eyes aren't completely developed because I would _not_ have wanted to see what was going on, no sir-ee.

Quite frankly I'm surprised I even remember parts of my past life. I thought reincarnation was the start of a second chance, so why would you remember anything? Granted I don't remember _everything_; I can't even remember my old name.

But that's not the point; the point is I had been reincarnated. Go figure. I had never even believed in this spiritual mumbo jumbo, but hey, I guess sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches.

So this is my story.

The story of my life as Nozomi Nasake.

* * *

It was strange and frustrating being a baby, more so frustrating than anything else. I had no control for the longest time, including bodily functions, and when you have the mind of an adult that in itself is _utterly_ mortifying.

I was going to potty train myself as soon as freaking possible, at all costs. I would be a potty-ing genius.

On another note, it wasn't that bad being a baby either. I had a loving little family and I couldn't recall ever feeling so loved in my fuzzy memories.

My father, while he seemed to be absent for several days at a time sometimes, was always kind and jolly. He loved to spoil me rotten and make me laugh, and from what I understood his name was Raise.

Mother, on the other hand, was more on the serious side; though she did have a lovely laugh and nice smile. She seemed to be the mature one in the relationship, though she did have a soft side. She liked to talk though; she could ramble on for hours. Her name, from what I gathered was Omoi.

Not that I could understand much of what was said. I don't really remember what my original language was, but I know it wasn't this one. And I just knew it would be hell to learn.

With that in mind, I was rather attentive when it came to listening. I tried piecing together what could possibly mean what. Needless to say, story time was probably my favorite thing at that point because they actually really tried to get me to understand.

Though, as a baby there wasn't much chance of me talking at this point. My schedule roughly consisted of crying, eating, crying some more, going boom-boom (I inwardly cringed every time), sleeping, crying, and sleeping some more.

There was also an odd warmth that started to develop, seemingly from within me. It was perplexing and somewhat annoying, but it wasn't harming me in any way. If I had to compare the way it felt to something, it would be that annoying tingle you get when you're trying to sleep but you can't because you have too much energy. Other than that it was kind of nice, like a personal body warmer that warmed you from the inside out.

When I started pondering on what it could be I started to wonder where exactly I was. My muddled memories of my past life were, from what I could tell, nothing like it was around here. It almost seemed like I had gone back in time, yet stayed in the same time all at once.

Was that even possible?

Maybe it was a foreign country, but even then that would do me no good as I couldn't even remember what countries actually existed. It was frustrating not to remember and to feel like I was forgetting at the same time and I became more frustrated as tears pricked at the corners of my eyes and my lip started to wobble.

That's what sucked about being a baby too – my emotions were like hair-triggers, they could easily send me into a tantrum.

With that the dam broke and my wails filled the house.

* * *

Once I started crawling I felt like I had so much more freedom. It didn't feel like enough though; I wanted to walk. If I could walk I would have a better chance at finding out where I had been reincarnated.

"Oh, look at my little Nozomi!" My father scooped me up into the air and spun me around, a rather joyous squeal escaping me as he did, "Crawling around like you own the place, I bet you'll start walking before we know it."

"She's only seven months old, Raise," mother bluntly stated, a somewhat humorous glint in her cornflower blue eyes, "It'll be awhile."

"Why must you crush my dreams, my dearest Omoi!"

Did I forget to mention my father is rather dramatic? No? Well, now you know.

Suddenly I was eye to eye with him and the glint from his forehead drew my attention as he spoke, "On second thought, don't grow up too fast my dearest little wish!"

I was hugged close to him as he fell back onto the couch, but I wasn't really registering what was going on at that moment. The headband he was wearing had caught my attention.

It was so familiar, but I just couldn't place it. The smooth metal had a symbol that somewhat resembles a leaf carved into it, and I swear I'd seen it before. If only I could remember, then I might know where exactly I was.

Nothing was coming to me and I felt my lip tremble. It seemed my parents had noticed as well as their playful banter stopped as they gently tried to calm me before I bawled.

Quite frankly, I'm ashamed to say I started to cry, despite how hard I tried to resist.

* * *

My father had been right back when he said I would be walking soon. I had tried and tried to walk multiple times, and had finally taken my first wobbly steps when I was just shy of nine months old. It was also then that I got my first look at myself.

My hair was a pearly off-white, as in it wasn't quite beige, but it wasn't white either. Like a pearl. My eyes were also a soft cornflower blue and set on a childishly chubby face with skin that was a shade dark enough to not be considered pale.

Mother found me staring at myself in the mirror and squatted down next to me with a smile, the edges of her cornflower blue eyes crinkling.

"That's an awfully pretty girl in the mirror, isn't it?" Her hand gently landed on my head, ruffling my short hair and I noticed we had the same skin tone as well. Our hair was the only difference in color, hers was a light brown.

"Well then," she scooped me up, "why don't you come with mama now and we can get us a nice snack."

I burbled jubilantly in response, having picked out the word 'snacks.' Though 'mama' had popped out too, 'papa' had been said a lot lately as well. They probably were hoping for me to speak early like I had walked a bit early, and believe me, I wanted that too. It was no fun having to play a game of bad charades while screaming in my head what I wanted them to know.

And I really wanted to ask where we lived.

Now there was the question of which word I wanted to be my first. Part of me wanted to do something other than the norm, but as parents they probably deserved a 'mama' or 'papa,' and who was I to deny them that?

So with that in mind I started practicing at night when they were asleep before I myself fell asleep; who knows, maybe I could get both 'mama' and 'papa' in in one day.

* * *

It was shortly before my first birthday when my father came home from one of his outings, of what I assumed was his job, and he looked exhausted. Nothing like the bubbly man I was used to.

With a certain surge of determination I got up and wobbled over. I gripped his pant leg and gave him a gapped simile (my teething days were surprisingly easy compared to what I thought they'd be) before speaking, "Papa!"

The exhaustion seemed to slip off of his face and suddenly I was in the air, just like he usually did. His joyous laugh brought mother into the room and he stuck out his tongue, "She said papa first. She loves me more!"

"Oh please," mother huffed as she rolled her eyes, "it's just because you repeated it to her like a mantra every second."

She was playing it off, but I could tell she was a bit miffed I had said 'papa' first. I hadn't realized it at this point, but what I was about to do might put a bit of pressure on me later; at this point though, I had no regrets. My chubby hands stretched out for her and I giggled, "Mama!"

To say she was surprised was an understatement. My father was too, I could tell with the way he tensed slightly after I said it.

"Well now," she smiled and pulled me to her, hugging me close, "Looks like we've got ourselves a little genius."

My father laughed, his grin stretched wider than I'd ever seen before, "She is our daughter after all; she was bound to be special." He seemed to contemplate things for a moment as mother and I watched him until he turned suddenly and wailed, "She's growing up too fast!"

* * *

It was about a week later when mother suddenly had to leave, something about the hospital. I started to worry; was she okay? Did something happen?

I tottered over to my father and tugged on his sleeve, "Papa, mama okay?"

He chuckled and patted my head, "Sure she is, my little wish. She just had to go in for some work."

"Works at hos-hus-hospitahl?" I was slightly ashamed to say I couldn't quite pronounce some words. It kind of bruised my inner-adult ego.

"She sure does! Your mama is the prettiest medic in the village," his smile and face had gone goofy and dreamy at the same time and I giggled.

Then it occurred to me – I could ask where we lived now!

"Papa," before I could get it out someone knocked at the door and I hobbled after him, curious to meet someone new.

By the time I got there all I caught was the end. "– needs to see you."

"Alright! Thanks, Hiroshi," he turned to me as said man left, his hands on his hips, "Well, little one, looks like we're going out."

Excitement bubbled up and I grinned, excited to finally go out somewhere new, "Yaaay!"

It was different around here than the places I could remember from my old life, but it was a somewhat nostalgic different. This outing also brought some possible answers to my questions of _where_ I was. A large mountain was off to the side and it had _faces_ on it. Familiar faces that sent my mind reeling.

Was this some dream? A joke?

Suddenly doors were pushed open and my father's voice brought my attention back to the world, "You wanted to see me, Lord Hokage?"

Hokage? _Hokage?_

Sure enough, right in front of me was someone who seemed to jolt my memory. Suddenly, I knew where I was. I knew who _he_ was. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, also known as Konoha.

There's something that perfectly described this moment.

It's like when you get a can of coke for someone and you shake it up so it fizzes into their face when they open it. But instead everything goes wrong and you drop it and it _explodes_ everywhere.

It's sticky and messy.

It's shocking.

And really, it's not as sweet as you'd thought it would be.

* * *

**NOTE: The title, 'Growing Amaryllis' does have a meaning. In the language of flowers Amaryllis flowers stand for courage, so therefore, it's really 'Growing Courage.'**

* * *

**And here we go again~!**

**I've been inspired by so many great SIs on here. I'm sure you could name them. **

**I'm hoping this turns out good, I really do. xD**

**If you have any questions, PM me! Or if you want to yell at me to hurry and update this, or one of my other stories, then please, please do! Kami knows I need that sometimes.**


	2. Chapter 2

**SO, I wanted to have this chapter beta'd, but some things weren't really working for me (I hate you sometimes internet), so here we go x3**

**I ALSO HAVE ART. I drew Nozomi in her academy outfit. It's on my profile. **

**You should look at it.**

**Go.**

**Now.**

* * *

**I only own my ocs.**

* * *

_"Embrace love and compassion with all your spirit. Understand that they never hurt or offend, they just heal and empower."_  
**― Steve Maraboli**

* * *

_"Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on."_  
**― Benjamin Franklin**

* * *

Since I figured out that my personal heater was in fact chakra, it seemed to get all the more annoying. Chakra wasn't just key to life, it was key to death too. I was now two and still absolutely dreading becoming a shinobi. The idea of shinobi really set in at this point because my mother was officially back to work, so I was either left with genin teams or family friends when both her and father were on missions.

That in itself wasn't so bad, because it gave me a chance to meet someone the same age as me. Imagine my surprise when the person watching me was an old teammate of my father's and former classmate of mother's. Her name was Tsume Inuzuka and she had a son my age named Kiba.

A few things filtered into my mind at that; this meant I was in the rookie nine generation. And, oh dear Kami-sama, this meant I was part of the generation that dealt with the most danger. What that danger was, I don't recall, but the fact still remained.

Kiba was like any other normal two year old. He talked in short sentences and he like to be on the move. It was refreshing to have someone that was at my height with the same bodily restrictions to keep up with. Given, he was two and I was mentally older, so I mostly just tagged along quietly as we ran around the Inuzuka house.

But, like I said, it was refreshing. Keeping up with him kept my mind from going to bad places. This way I wouldn't freak out over the possibilities. Though refreshing, it was also agonizingly boring.

When I did have time to think about my future as a shinobi, I felt scared. Killing and being killed weren't pleasant thoughts for me, but killing was ultimately better than being killed. With that thought in mind I considered my options and decided that the sooner I started training, the better. Though as a two year old that wasn't likely to start soon, at least the physical part. I could play with my chakra; work on my control so I wouldn't struggle later.

How could I do that though?

Chakra was a completely foreign substance for me and I didn't know how to make it respond. I remembered that in the anime they focused it into different body parts to increase speed and strength, but how did you make it move? In a way it was like pulling on a really taut rubber band; it would slowly move where I wanted it to after much pressuring on my part and then suddenly flow back into place with a light burning feeling left in its wake.

Maybe two was too early to mess with it? Or was I going to end up not being able to use it? Not able to defend myself. A few tears rolled down my cheeks as I sat in the middle of my room. I was scared, terrified of the possibility of not being able to properly defend myself.

* * *

Somewhere about halfway through my third year of life my mother and father sat me down in the living room. Dad was literally vibrating with happiness, but with something akin to worry in his eyes. Mom just smiled lightly and patted his shoulder before turning to me.

"Nozomi, dear," she started out with a tone that had me slightly worried. Well, that was until the metaphorical dam that was my father's mouth broke.

"We're having a baby!" In the back of my mind I wondered if he had wet his pants in excitement.

I blinked and look back up at mother. She blinked and an apprehensive look passed over her face.

Did they expect me to throw a fit? Is that what the worry and apprehension was? Well, that was silly. Then again, maybe it wasn't. I remembered a story Tsume had told my mom about how Hana had tried to mail Kiba and figured maybe that was where the worry stemmed.

"Is it gonna be a boy or a girl?" I clapped happily and smiled.

Relieved smiles crossed both of my parents' faces and they said they didn't know.

Suddenly a frown crossed my face and I looked down.

A worried look crossed both of their faces.

I looked up, "I'm not gonna have to share a room with 'em, am I?"

I figured if there was ever a moment for a sweat drop or dramatic fall, this would be it.

* * *

My first explorations of chakra when I was two and their failures had me completely give up on chakra for a while, almost two years to be exact, and even now I wasn't too sure if I was going to mess with it any time soon. In a few weeks I would be four – and my very pregnant mother would be having he baby soon – though today I found myself celebrating Kiba's fourth birthday at a small party. It was at this party that I met a couple of future classmates, but only one stood out to me.

Shino Aburame.

With him there was a niggling feeling and I realized, 'Hey, another rookie nine!' He was quiet too, he mostly stood and watched. Of course Kiba wouldn't leave it at that and grabbed my arm before wondering over.

"Kiba," I whined, "Where're you taking me?"

My answer came when he stopped in front of Shino and pointed a finger at the quiet boy, "Why're you just staring! It's weird!"

Shino just stared and he might have blinked, but with his sunglasses I couldn't really tell. His lack of response seemed to annoy Kiba even more than the staring and he puffed his cheeks out, childishly glaring at the boy.

"Well?!"

Still no response came from the boy and Kiba stomped his foot on the ground. At that there was a response from the young Aburame – a raised eyebrow.

I sighed and stuck out a hand, "I'm Nozomi Nasake."

There was no response for a moment and I was about to drop my hand when he finally took it, "Shino Aburame, it's nice to meet you."

"You too; also," once my hand was free I jerked a thumb over towards Kiba, "he has a temper problem, so please excuse his outbursts of stupid."

Shino nodded and Kiba whirled around to face me, his jaw dropped. I turned to face him and smiled, it was pretty easy to set him off sometimes; though I hope that he wouldn't be so quick to anger when we got older.

"I do not have stupid outbursts!"

"I said outbursts of stupid, not stupid outbursts," my head quirked to the side as I spoke, the same smile on my face as Kiba crossed his arms.

Shino pitched in from the side, his voice blank, "Though the stupid could probably go on either end of the word."

A strangled noise came from Kiba before he whirled away yelling 'Whatever!' and stalked off only to run into another kid and get launched sideways into his birthday cake.

"Well," I chirped and clapped my hands together, honestly pleased with the situation, "that went well."

Shino just looked at me and I turned away from where everyone was laughing or shaking their head at Kiba and the now angry Tsume to return Shino's stare. Staring into his sunglasses made me think of black holes or really deep pit-traps. I vaguely wondered what color his eyes were, probably green or brown if I had to guess.

After a minute or so he finally spoke, "Did you expect that to happen?"

"That or something similar," a snicker escaped me, "he usually does something stupid when angry. Oh, and thanks."

His eyebrows rose and his voice held a hint of confusion, "For what?"

I smiled, "You helped with the whole stupid comment. So, you're not half-bad."

He stayed silent and I just assumed he blinked in response.

Did he blink?

Was he smiling?

The world may never know.

* * *

Time passed by quickly, my fourth birthday passed by without much incident (Kiba didn't destroy any cakes, but he did get mauled by Tora who just so happened to be hiding in our back yard) – mother had the baby a mere two days after my birthday – and sooner than what seemed possible my fifth birthday passed by. With that, I realized I would be entering the academy in a year.

Well, shit.

It was something I'd pushed to the back of my mind along with chakra. The realization of my upcoming desensitization and ninja training left me huddled in a corner fiddling with strings, making shapes by moving my fingers. After a while my fingers started to bleed from all the rubbing and I silently headed to the bathroom to clean up.

It was there I realized something about myself.

I healed faster than normal. Those raw spots on my fingers were a lot better than they should be. My teething days had been rather easy too compared to what they probably should have been. The pain was lessened, from what I guessed, by a healing factor I seemed to have. My mother found me in the bathroom staring at my hands with a bewildered look on my face.

"Nozomi, dear," her voice held amusement as she adjusted my little sister Isei in her arms, "Is something wrong?"

"I heal fast," I blurted, my eyes probably resembled dinner plates at the moment from the way my mother laughed.

She hummed and nodded, asking me to go wait in the living room while she went to set Insei down for a nap. When she walked in the room she was carrying a piece of paper and a pencil, a soft smile on her face.

"Now, Nozomi, do you know anything about our clan?"

I pursed my lips and my face scrunched up in thought, "We have lots of healers?"

Another smile, "Yes, we do. Our chakra is special like that."

_Special?_ "Special?"

She set the paper and pencil down on the table and took a seat next to me, "You see, a long time ago our clan used to have a thing for poison. Over time our own chakra and bodies adapted to suit our needs and poisons stopped working on us."

Her eyes closed in thought for a moment before she continued, "Our chakra is special; it helps us heal faster, and helps us to heal others faster. That's why most of our clan is involved in the medical field."

"But didn't you say lots of us were poison masters a long time ago?" Did that chakra evolution change the perspectives of the clan? Or did it just die out?

Mother nodded, "That dwindled away some time after Konoha was formed and our clan moved here. You see, poison wasn't really suited for the fighting styles developed here in the leaf. Suna eventually became more of a hotspot for that specific style.

"Though there are still two or three poison users in the clan, you're father being one of them. Now, I have something I want to tell you, okay?"

"Okay, mommy."

Once again she picked up the pencil and moved the paper more into my view.

"This has to do with our clan symbol, you know what that is, don't you?" I nodded and she smiled in response.

"Well, Nozomi, something everyone in our clan needs to know is that healing comes from the heart; from a love of life and a love of the living."

She was passionate about this, very passionate. I figured it was because she herself was a medic-nin. The words didn't mean too much to me; I wasn't planning on becoming a medic. Medics in the field have high mortality rates, and I wasn't planning on dying; but I listened anyways, it was only right of me to do at least that much.

"If you love life, if you love that spark each and every one of us has, then you have so much at your fingertips. This spark, this living essence, has two parts. The body –"

She drew a diamond on the paper.

" – and the mind."

Another diamond was drawn inside the one just previously put on the paper. I knew from clothing and the symbols on some walls that that inner diamond was blue like chakra and the outside diamond was a dark, almost black, brown.

"But always remember," she gently tweaked my nose, "The body may encase our mind, but our mind is ever expanding. It's also the hardest thing to heal."

* * *

The mini lesson on our clan that my mother gave me had me thinking even more about chakra, and the fact that I healed faster. Though not at some super spectacular rate, but the time it took for things to heal was nearly halved for us.

Say something normally took four weeks to heal. For us it was roughly seventeen days.

It was convenient and comforting knowing that I wasn't affected by poison too. But still, that brought up another important subject: chakra.

The first time I had ever messed with it; it had left a burning feeling after slipping back into place. I hoped it would be different this time.

In the back of my mind a phrase came to mind: 'look within yourself, for yourself.' Perhaps it was something from my past life. It did fit the situation though; looking for my chakra was kind of like looking for 'myself' within myself. Thinking about it made the warmth it brought me all the time years ago spread through me again.

With a deep breath I started the process of coercing it where I wanted it to go. In this case, it was my right hand where a paper was sitting on my palm. It was much like the first time was; like pulling on a rubber band, except not as resistant.

Slowly but surely the creeping warmth made it to my hand and I slowly turned said hand over, only to have the paper float down after a second of remaining in place.

Not what I expected, not what I wanted.

Then again, if I did something that I wasn't supposed to with my chakra that might get me labeled at a genius or prodigy. I'd already set the bar when I walked and talked early. This wasn't something I could convince myself to stop though.

Then again, what if I managed to hurt myself doing this? Something serious, something that could ruin me, that's what. I could damage my chakra system or stunt my growth. I'd already cried about it years ago, but the fact remained the same. It could _ruin_ me.

My hands found my hair and my nails scraped against my skull as I clenched my hair. Soon after my knees curled up to my chest and my face rested between them.

A faint wait jerked me out of my thoughts; Isei was crying. I could hear mother humming in the kitchen, unaware. It wasn't too surprising she couldn't hear; Isei was a quiet crier. Instead of bothering mother I got up to go peek into the room adjacent to mine.

"Shh, shhh," I peeked over the edge of the crib, meeting my one year old sister's purple-blue eyes, "you're not stinky."

It was true, there wasn't a funky smell permeating the room.

She gurgled and smiled up at me.

"If you're not crying still you're probably not hungry either," her hands reached for me and she clenched and unclenched them.

Babies weren't necessarily my favorite thing. But Isei, Isei was my sister. Or maybe babies didn't bother me so much as the fact that I was older yet nearly the same age as babies. At least at this point I was.

"You know, you got it easy, easier than I had it," that was if she wasn't a reincarnation too, but I highly doubt that. Then again, I didn't believe it myself.

Another gurgle and more groping hands.

"Fine," a grunt escaped me as I hefted her up and trundled down the hall towards the kitchen. This kid was heavy.

I huffed and shot a look at my sister, "What does mother feed you?"

A gapped smile and giggle were the only response I received. Another huff escaped me as I pulled her up higher and stepped into the kitchen.

"Mom, I think Isei needs to eat less."

* * *

**OMAKE: BROKEN WATER.**

* * *

You know those candies made out of mashed potatoes?

Apparently they had those here, though they were made with sweet potatoes. They were also very nasty; but I digress, that may just be me. Sweets weren't my favorite thing in this life.

"Pretty." I smiled smugly at my potato candy tower; the orange did have a very nice aesthetic appeal. It lost its glamour pretty quickly though.

What I'm sure was a very evil smile crossed over my face as a few vague things floated through my mind.

A gorilla, some roaring, and rubble – just to name a few.

"ARRRAHHGRAAH!" My foot descended on part of my tower as a hand slammed into another part. The potato candies squished between my toes and all over the floor, an orange swamp instead of tower.

Off to the side a strangled noise that sounded like a mix between a laugh and a scream caught my attention.

It was mother.

My eyes widened as they met her slightly twitching ones and nothing was said for a moment. Then father came in about to yell his greetings, only to stop to see the mess in front of him. His eyes darted around.

To the potato-ey mess.

To me (his lips twitched at my startled face and the potatoes clinging to my hands and feet).

Then to mother and her odd expression.

His laughter shook the house and tears streamed down his face, therefore causing me to laugh. Mother made another strangled noise and was about to start yelling when she froze and paled.

"It's time."

Father stopped and blinked and I tilted my head before pointing to the floor, "Look, a puddle!"

Time seemed to resume and father screamed and flailed, "Her water broke!" Her grabbed her shoulders, "Your water broke!"

She snarled and smacked him, "Get in gear. Hospital. NOW."

My adult mind was screaming in laughter and as father made a clone to drag me off to the hospital while he helped mother a giggle escaped me. I could only imagine how the hospital staff would react. Father was spazzing, mother was indifferent, and I was covered in sweet potato candy.

Best. Day. Ever.

* * *

**Fun fact:** Nozomi, as mentioned in the Omake, doesn't like sweets. She does like bitter and sour things though (more so bitter things). Goya, a Japanese bitter melon, is her favorite thing to have in any dish.

* * *

**So, the little sister:**

Isei 威勢 [high-spirited]

**So, yeah. I hope you guys enjoyed3**

**Nozomi's mom had some talking time, yay!**

**I liked writing the Omake. I was tired. And bored.**

**3 VI**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Point: The Omakes, for those who don't know, are points in time that happen in the story, that aren't written into the story. The last one was the day/moment Isei was born! :)_**

* * *

_"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one."_  
**― C.S. Lewis**

_"CONJUGATE THIS:_  
_I cut class, you cut class, he, she, it cuts class. We cut class, they cut class. We all cut class. I cannot say this in Spanish because I did not go to Spanish today. **Gracias a dios. Hasta luego."**_  
**― Laurie Halse Anderson**

* * *

In the time that had passed since I was born I had realized I was a rather cowardly little thing. I had already had fits over my chakra and what could befall me in the future. And when you have the mind of an adult, it kind of shames you a bit. Though my fears – I believed – were legitimate, I was, in a way, letting them rule me.

Or I _had_ let them rule me.

Today was going to be my first day at the Academy. And there was no room for my petty fears here; not that there would be anything to fear here. In our early years we wouldn't be doing anything serious; just learning the basics.

"Alright honey!" Dad ruffled my hair, a huge grin stretching across his face, "You go make some new friends and learn some new things!"

I blew a strand of my now mussed up hair out of my face, my longest locks reaching my elbows, "Alright daddy."

His lip quivered as he stood up, a hand shooting up to rub his eyes furiously, "Waah~! My baby is growing up too fast!"

Several pairs of eyes looked our way, those who knew my dad just laughed, other adults had odd expressions, and the other children stared before eyeing me.

"Er," I shrank back at the stares before slowly making my way backwards, "Bye dad, love you!"

With that I darted off to find my classroom as my dad's choked up wail of 'I love you to-oooo~!' echoed behind me. It was in the classroom that the next path in my new life would start. It was also _huge _compared to my faint memories of the one in the anime.

There was a good reason for that size though. Many of the students end up giving up and going to civilian classes, thus lessening our classmates and those of us remaining would move into smaller and smaller classrooms. And those left are the ones that become shinobi – whether it be the Genin Corps or members of the 'Rookie Nine.'

That made me question my place here; if I made it into the rookie nine that would mean one of the others would fail. And while I didn't want one of them to fail; I didn't want to fail either. Genin Corps, or in my case I'd probably be entered in the Medic Corps, was not where I wanted to end up. My training wouldn't be as vigorous or fruitful as it would if I passed.

That meant weakness, and in worse case, my eventual death in a bad situation.

"Nozomi!" Loud stomping and an equally loud voice brought my attention back to the classroom.

"Oh, Kiba, it's you." It was relieving to have him in my class. Who wouldn't want a familiar, friendly face in a new setting?

He frowned, "What do you mean 'Oh, it's you'?!"

I blinked, my lips twitching, "What do you think I meant?"

"Well," came a monotone voice – one that I remembered gleefully – from the doorway, "You're as hot tempered as ever."

Kiba whipped around and growled at Shino, his face slightly red. With that done he marched over to a row and plopped down, his arms crossed.

"Nice to see you again, Shino," I chirped, earning a nod in response before Shino seated himself in the back corner.

Loud and excited voices started sounding in the hallway, alerting me to my fast approaching classmates. Kiba snickered as I tripped on a step in my rush to the seat next to him, earning him by best stink eye. Not long after I sat down the others started filing in.

Sasuke was the first followed by a group of girls, including Ino. Shikamaru trailed in after some other boys, slouching his way to a seat and laying his head down. Little Sakura and Choji were next, followed by a sheepish Hinata. I didn't recognize the rest.

When it was close to time for class to start, Naruto showed up. I could tell how excited he was to be here by the look on his face. Soon he was down the stairs and at the front of the classroom.

He sucked in a deep breath as everyone turned to look at him.

"I'M GONNA BE HOKAGE ONE DAY," His arm was extended toward the class as he pointed at us all, "BELIEVE IT!"

Most everyone in the class started laughing, and Kiba was one of them. My elbow made its way into his side and he wheezed. Before he could retaliate or Naruto could blow up, our sensei entered the room.

"Alright everyone, calm down," he ushered Naruto into an empty seat before making his way to the front of the room, "I'm your sensei, Iruka Umino. Iruka-sensei to you all. Welcome to the academy!"

* * *

The work we did in class, as well as for homework, was agonizingly easy. We started with simple math problems, simple writing assignments, and the like. Things that I really already knew how to do. Which made it _boring. _History was the only unfamiliar thing to me, but it was still easy as long as you read or paid attention.

It was because of this that I was at the top of the class along with Sakura and Sasuke. But I'd be darned if I let them beat me; I was – for all intents and purposes – older than them. I should at least be the best in the knowledge department.

"Hey, granny!"

Ah, yes. The bullies. Sakura was teased almost constantly about her forehead, and me for my hair. The good thing about being mentally older was that I knew better than to really let it get to me. The bad part about being physically six was that my emotions sometimes controlled me more than my thoughts.

Misumi was the main instigator along with her two flunkies. On the boy's side of things it was a kid named Keiji.

Yeah, I know, 'little boys pick on girls that they like!'

I find that hardly plausible; even if it was true it would be disgusting. I'm practically an adult in a child's body and he's a true kid.

"Only grannies have white hair!" Keiji jeered, his friends snickering along and chanting 'white hair!'.

"My dad has the same hair," I blandly stated, "so do a lot of my fellow clan members. It's called genetics. You should know since you seem to share DNA with a monkey."

He flushed with a snarl and moved to grab me, but my favorite dog boy was already on the scene.

Keiji wailed as he hit the ground, cradling his reddened cheek.

"That's what you get for messing with my friend!" Kiba growled at the boy who was now near tears.

His lip quivered as he glared up at Kiba, "I'm gonna tell on you!"

My lips tilted up, "That would also be telling on yourself, you know."

Keiji looked confused, clearly not understanding on how telling a teacher another kid hit him would get _him_ in trouble.

"If you did that," my eyes closed in a smile, "We'd have to tell Iruka-sensei why Kiba had to hit you in the first place."

Kiba grinned at the boy grumbled, knowing he'd be in trouble too if that happened. Maybe not as much, but as a kid he didn't want to be in any trouble at all. When I considered it we were pretty lucky Iruka-sensei hadn't seen us in the first place, considering we were still in the classroom.

"W-whatever!" With that Keiji and his friends were gone back to their seats in the far back corner.

My friend stretched beside me, the same grin on his face, "That went well, yeah?"

"Mmmhmm," our footsteps were in sync as we trundled up to our seats, "I kinda wished I would have punched him though."

Kiba snickered as the rest of our classmates started to trickle in, Iruka-sensei following. After our recess/lunch break we had history. And history was Kiba's preferred napping class. His excuse was that it was boring, and all the food he ate at lunch made him sleepy. He ended up falling asleep fifteen minutes in today, when we were reviewing for a test.

"Kiba!" I made sure to keep my voice low, speaking to him through the corner of my mouth, "Wake up!"

Iruka-sensei was asking students questions, and I knew he'd eventually notice Kiba's sleeping form. I frowned lightly and jabbed him harshly in the ribs with my elbow.

"YEOWCH! I DIDN'T DO IT MOM!"

That was a mistake, but it was also funny. Everyone started laughing aside from Iruka-sensei who scowled. Kiba turned on me, his face was contorted in anger.

"What the hell?!"

A tapping reached our ears and the two of us froze, our now wide eyes staring up at a simmering Iruka-sensei.

"What," he started, "indeed."

Kiba flailed, "She jabbed me in the ribs!"

My hands raised up in the air next to my shoulders, "He was asleep!"

Both statements were said at the same time causing both of us to jerk around and glare at each other, **"Traitor!"**

Iruka-sensei's hand slammed down on our table, "DETENTION!"

Well, this was just fantastic. My perfect record – of two weeks, mind you – was ruined.

And really, it probably wouldn't be the last time I got a detention.

* * *

Detention wasn't particularly fun. The acts we _did _to get detention were sometimes fun; the resulting detention, not so much. We'd also learned the importance of just not getting caught. Sometimes Iruka-sensei eyed the trouble makers in the class – Kiba and myself included – but unless someone broke he'd never have anyone to blame.

Depending on the severity of the crime, not finding the culprits resulted in a punishment for the class. The class knew who it was more often than not, but they never said anything. But they sure let the culprits know how much they disliked them for it afterwards. That was why I'd force Kiba to admit it when it was us; there was no reason to drag our classmates down with us.

This time around we were hoping for a 'not get caught' moment.

It started when Kiba tripped over a sleeping Shikamaru's leg at recess. He had yelled at our poor classmate who just yawned in his face. We'd then noticed Naruto trying to sneak over the fence behind the bushes.

"What're you doing?" Naruto froze and turned to look at us before smiling.

"Well, since you guys won't tell," he glanced around and put his hand up to his mouth, a fox-like grin on his face, "I'm gonna sneak out to go to Ichiraku's."

I shared a look with Kiba who grinned before turning to look at Shikamaru. Said boy shrugged, a smirk pulling at his lips.

Kiba stepped forward, "Oh, we won't tell, if…"

Naruto frowned.

Shikamaru yawned, "If you don't mind us tagging along."

The grin on the blond haired boy's face was almost blinding. That's how happy he was, and in a way it made me happy too.

* * *

Kiba had almost ripped his pants when we climbed over the fence at the academy. Said event was still being laughed over as we sat on stools at Ichiraku's. The owner, Teuchi, had some suspicions that the four of us weren't supposed to be here, but he appreciated our patronage all the same.

"Here you go kids, two miso ramen," one bowl was placed in front of meand the other Shikamaru, and the next to in front of Kiba and Naruto respectively, "and a beef a shrimp."

Both Kiba and Naruto were loud eaters. Really loud eaters. Their combined slurping caused me to cringe in both disgust and embarrassment. Shikamaru seemed to have similar feelings as he rolled his eyes next to me.

I spun my chopsticks in my finders, smiling fondly as Naruto and Kiba messed around, "Idiots."

Shikamaru snorted, "Troublesome is more like it."

"Maybe," I grinned, "But at least they're not bothering us."

Before he could respond the curtains flew open and we all froze. Iruka-sensei had found us, and he was _not_ happy.

So much for not getting caught.

"Naruto, Kiba," his tones dark and his eye was twitching rapidly, "Shikamaru, Nozomi…"

Naruto chuckled nervously, "Er, hey sensei…"

I sheepishly laughed as his twitching eye picked up speed, "You might want to get that muscle spasm checked out, Iruka-sensei."

And then, he exploded.

…

…

Well, not literally. That would have been nasty. But we did get detention for a week.

* * *

Mother never really liked all the detention I got, but she dealt with it. It had been almost two years since I started at the academy and everything had been going smoothly for the most part. Sasuke's fangirls seemed to get more rabid as the years passed by, in fact they were causing a disturbance now.

"I want to sit by Sasuke!"

"Well that's too bad, Kanna," Misumi sneered, "Because I'm sitting next to him!"

Kanna and Misumi were about to start throwing punches and the rest of the class all had varying reactions to the situation. Most of the guys were either laughing, ignoring them, or just plain annoyed. The girls, aside from myself and Hinata, were fuming and looked like they were about to get in on the action too.

I probably would have started laughing at their faces once Iruka-sensei started scolding them if he hadn't said my name soon after.

"Nozomi, switch seats with Misumi and Kanna go sit up front!"

"W-what, but sensei, why do I have to switch seats with her?"

Iruka-sensei side and placed his hands on his hips, "Because I can trust you to behave yourself, now move."

Kiba groaned and little Akamaru whimpered before licking his chin in an attempt to comfort his partner. I myself wanted to whimper in response, but I figured it would get me in trouble more than anything else.

See, I don't always try to get in trouble!

Anyways, Sasuke seemed as weary as I was about this, which I didn't quite understand. I had never fawned over him or acted in a fangirl-ish way; and you could bet I wouldn't start now. Most of the girls realized that too, not that they weren't still jealous.

"You can relax, you know." I muttered, my chin in my hand, "I'm definitely not going to fawn over you. So don't be making assumptions, because assuming makes an ass out of you and me."

He seemed momentarily shocked, a light line of color running across his face before fading away. "Whatever," was his mumbled response, but he did relax none the less.

And honestly, he wasn't that bad to sit next to. Though without Kiba time went by at a slower pace and by the time class ended I felt like I had been there twice as long. I also didn't have a detention, but Kiba did.

"Bye-bye you little nuisances," I teased with a wave at Kiba and Naruto as I darted out the door, down the hallway, out the front door, and into the legs of someone taller than me –which was a lot of people, I'm rather small even for my age.

"Oof!" Dust swirled into the air as my butt hit the ground.

"Are you alright?" The voice was definitely male; it was also soft yet hard in its own way.

A large – to me – hand came into my field of vision to help me up.

"Yeah, I'm okay mister, sorry for running into you," I dusted myself off once I was back on my feet, "Oh, and thanks for helping me up."

When I finally looked up who I saw momentarily left my brain fried, barely catching his response or the huff of annoyance from Sasuke behind him, "No problem. You should be more careful though."

"Yeah, more careful!" Sasuke repeated, earning him a poke to the forehead by his elder brother.

Itachi was his name; that much I remembered. He also set of warning bells in my head, but for what reason I couldn't remember. Whatever it was, was telling me he was dangerous, but a small part of me was saying otherwise. Itachi sure seemed nice enough.

I shrugged off the comment, "I usually am more careful, I just have a lot on my mind. Sorry once again."

"Ah, the worries of an academy student," another Uchiha – I could tell by the similar facial features and color palate – entered the scene, "Worried about an upcoming test or the class hunk, kiddo?"

Something about this boy –man? – seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite place him. Luckily Itachi did that for me.

"Shisui, what are you doing here?"

That's right. I knew that name, I knew his face too. But I couldn't remember why.

He tutted at his fellow Uchiha, "I came to bug my favorite cousins. And to ask this little academy cutie a question." He turned back to me, speaking to me as if I was still six – or mayhap as if I really was eight, "So, are you infatuated with our cute little Sasuke like those other little girls?"

"Hardly," he seemed surprised yet amused at my dry and somewhat offended tone – Itachi too, "I'm eight, besides, I'm not interested in boys right now. I was thinking about my idiot friends in detention and my little sister at home."

He opened his mouth, eyes glittering. Anticipating his next possible question I spoke again, "And no, I do not think boys have cooties. Cooties do not exist."

Before Shisui could respond Itachi stopped him and apologized for his cousin. In no time the Uchiha trio was gone and my mother came around the corner with Isei.

"Oh thank goodness," she sighed as Isei toddled up to me, "No detention."

* * *

A week later Shisui Uchiha was dead; suicide, suspected murder by many.

Two weeks after that and Sasuke was the only Uchiha left.

* * *

**OMAKE: MEETING AKAMARU.**

* * *

A week after my and Kiba's joint seventh birthday party I found myself wandering over to the Inuzuka compound; Kiba had been so jittery and excited at the academy that I was curious. To my intense delight I found a little ball of creamy fur romping around the yard with my friend.

"You got your partner!" I warbled happily, eyes glittering as the cute little puppy ran up to me.

'_Yip!' _

"So cute~!"

Kiba grinned, "His name is Akamaru!"

My fingers scratched around Akamaru's ears, leaving his left foot thumping the ground happily. Dogs were a weakness of mine; I loved them. Hana's partners, the Haimaru brothers, were favorite playmates of mine, and Tsume's partner Kuromaru was a good talking buddy.

"Kids," Tsume yelled from the door, "lunch!"

"Hey, Kiba," my words were mushy around my mouthful of sandwich.

A piece of lettuce dangled out of his mouth as he looked at me, "Huh?"

I pointed to the living room, "I don't think he's supposed to be doing that, ne?"

Sure enough, there was Akamaru taking a whizz on the carpet – much to Kiba's horror.

"Akamaru, no!" He only got a bark in response as Akamaru scrambled out the door and past a now angry Tsume.

"_**KIBA!"**_

* * *

***Fun fact: Nozomi doesn't like birds. 'Their,' as she says, 'beady little eyes stare into your soul and wait for you to hesitate, then they'll claw your eyes out.' **

**When she was four she was with her dad, feeding birds in the park. They got a little too enthusiastic about the bread crumbs she was holding.**

* * *

**I feel like I might have rushed through that a bit, but there isn't too much to do in her childhood. She's not the child of someone famous or really important, so kidnapping is unlikely. Next chapter will hopefully cover some more clan stuff and graduation. **

**No promises though.**


	4. Chapter 4

_"Drag your thoughts away  
from your troubles...  
by the ears, by the heels,  
or any other way you can manage it."  
_**― Mark Twain**

**/ / / /**

_"Other crack teams get bat boomerangs and wall-climbing powers; we get Aquatruck." _  
**― Cassandra Clare, _City of Ashes_**

**/ / / /**

After the massacre I'm not sure everyone in our class quite understood what happened. Heck, some of them might not have known given the way most of the fangirls were still acting the moment he came back. In fact, I'm fairly sure the only people that knew the truth were from the big clans, like Shikamaru, Hinata, Choji, and Ino.

Though Ino was still as batty as ever, so it was likely she didn't know. Either that or they all thought the way they acted would make him feel better. The only reason I knew the truth was because my mother was the medic put in charge of him, and she made sure to tell me what happened – minus the gory details, of course – and that I should treat Sasuke the way I'd want to be treated if it was me.

Albeit if I wasn't as mature as I was, I'm not sure I would have quite understood how to interpret and react to that.

Mother and father seemed to worry a bit more after that, though it was unlikely for something like that to happen in our peaceful little clan. They knew I wasn't the best in taijutsu in my class, but that my chakra control was the best along with my knowledge retention. And with that in mind they loaded me down with books.

_Kouki's Guide to Poisonous Plantae_, _General Knowledge of the Human Body Systems_, and _Historical Medical Minds_, just to name a few.

Though even with my adult mind I didn't quite understand what exactly I was reading, all of it was above me for the most part. Most of it I wouldn't understand until I was older, not that I really tried to figure out any of the medical things. It's like I've said before; I want to defend myself and I can't do that if I concentrate on healing others. So in the end they ended up stashed in a corner in my room, left to gather dust.

_**/ / / /**_

The next three years after the massacre were rather uneventful, though Kiba and I did get caught sneaking out once or twice with Naruto and Shikamaru. Though that ended when we were nine and had drifted apart from Naruto, who had begun pulling pranks on Iruka-sensei and around the village. It saddened me to do so, and really it was more Kiba dragging me off somewhere – not that I ever tried stopping him, so I'd say I was indeed at fault there too.

Sasuke became, well, I wouldn't really call it depressed. I guess I could say darker, maybe, and brooding, yes. The next few times after the massacre that I had been placed next to him by Iruka-sensei – due, once again, to fangirls – I had tried to speak with him.

He'd been like a brick wall of silence.

A cracked, silent, brick wall.

Regardless, I still treated him the same as before. Just because he 'hn'ed at me didn't mean I had to return the gesture or just plain ignore him.

Our clan had also had a bit of a celebration, though many of the elders were disgruntled and annoyed by the returning man that this celebration was for. Sanada Nasake was the returning man; he was also classified as the strongest member of the Nasake clan. He was from the same generation as the three sanin: Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraya.

I for one wasn't sure what to make of this man who had returned a mere two weeks before my birthday. At the time I hadn't heard of him, let alone what he looked like. I had ran into him when I was in town with Kiba; literally, I ran right into him. I had also noticed that he was a member of the clan right away because he had the same pearly hair as my father and myself and the purple-blue eyes that many clan members had.

One thing can be said for our meeting, at least on my part. It was awkward. After I ran into him and succinctly apologized, we made eye contact. Though it probably wasn't awkward feeling on his side, it was on mine. His eyes were intense; one could see the strength in his eyes.

So I did what any other kid my (bodily) age would. I blushed, grabbed Kiba by the hand, and _ran. _

He hadn't paid much attention to me since then. And really, I barely ever saw him because when I wasn't studying for the upcoming graduation exam he wasn't anywhere around. So I forgot about him for the most part and went on my merry way.

And before I knew it, it was exam time.

**_/ / / /_**

The written exam was a breeze and I was sure I got the best score. Besides, as I'm sure I've said before, no way am I going to let someone younger than me score higher on tests. I mean, what would that have said about me?

Anyways, like I said, the written part was easy. The practical wasn't particularly hard either; I fairly good at all the jutsus they'd taught us. Though Naruto hadn't passed I still had this odd feeling that he somehow would. The feeling confused me because it felt like it was something I should remember, but didn't.

I had gotten that feeling a lot lately. It really did feel like I had some gaps in my head where things used to be, but I had no inkling of what those things were. And since trying to force myself to remember frustrated me to no end, I just didn't think about it. Though it was hard not to when I was bored.

Like now.

Today is team assignment day and I'd gotten here two hours early in my childish excitement. That was a mistake on my part and for about an hour I was alone in the room with Sasuke. I tried not to dwell on that fact or the abovementioned problem; but that was _hard._ So I was absolutely relieved when Shino showed up; he was quiet too, but if one really tried they could get him to talk.

"Aren't you excited, Shino?"

He turned his head towards me and I assumed he blinked, "I suppose."

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly and began chatting about mundane things to pass time. Though I was the one doing most of the talking until Kiba showed up. He then took over most of the talking as I gave Akamaru a good pet and scratch.

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru drawled upon observing Naruto enter the room, "I thought you failed."

Naruto grinned and adjusted his headband, "Yeah, well it turns out I was too awesome to fail. I'm a shinobi now! Believe it!"

Kiba scoffed and I nudged him before shooting him a look. Naruto would be good for Konoha, I knew it. Something to me he was an integral part of the village's future, and I was going to trust in that feeling.

Other than his initial entrance I didn't pay the jumpsuit wearing boy much attention; that was until the fangirls went silent and Kiba busted out laughing and pointing to the other side of the classroom. And I will admit that I had to hold back laughter upon seeing Naruto and Sasuke in a lip-lock. But alas, our fun was ruined once Iruka-sensei entered the room.

"Alright everyone, settle down," he tapped at his clipboard and smiled as he addressed our class, "it's time for you guys to get your teams and move on to the next level.

"So I'll be giving out your team assignments now, pay attention," Iruka-sensei cleared his throat, "First up is Team Seven: Nozomi Nasake…"

_Well, shit._

"Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha."

Naruto's hands slammed down on his desk and the fangirls all murmured and glared at the two of us.

"Iruka-sensei," Naruto screeched – because that's most certainly what it sounded like at the moment, "why does an awesome shinobi like me have to be on a team with _him_?!"

"Because, Naruto," sensei's voice was bland, "Nozomi has the best written scores where as you have the worst, and Sasuke has the best physical along with high written scores. And are where you are also lacking. It's called balance."

The blond boy huffed and plopped down in his seat, pouting as the rest of the teams were called. Kiba was with Hinata and Shino and a new Ino-Shika-Cho team was formed.

Iruka flipped a page, "Team eleven: Sakura Haruno, Ren Yuuhi, and Omaeda Ito."

Maybe there was hope for Sakura's team after all. Ren Yuuhi was from a clan that usually secialized with genjutsu, something I knew Sakura could handle with her chakra control if she tried. Omaeda Ito wasn't too shabby either; his specialty was with ninjutsu and taijutsu, but with some training he could learn how to detect and dispel genjutsu easily enough.

If they got the right teacher they could possibly make it.

Iruka's voice jerked me from my thoughts and brought _my_ team to the forefront of my mind.

"You're sensei's will arrive shortly to get you, so just wait here." Iruka-sensei smiled, "And congratulations everyone!"

_**/ / / /**_

It was nearly twelve and our sensei still hasn't shown up. And the last team left _thirty minutes ago. _Something in the back of my mind – another one of those damned empty spaces – was telling me this was expected. Even if it was expected, I was getting hungry. And Naruto was getting impatient.

And an impatient Naruto is a _very_ annoying Naruto.

He'd been pacing for the last fifteen minutes, and I was sure if our sensei didn't show up soon he'd wear a hole in the floor.

"Would you shut up and sit down, dobe." Sasuke spoke from behind his steepled fingers.

Naruto's face contorted and he mocked his teammate. Said teammate's eyebrow twitched, but there was no other show of emotion on his face.

"I wouldn't be pacing if he wasn't late, teme!" Naruto ranted, his arms crossed, "Don't tell me you're not annoyed either."

"Annoyed by _you_."

Naruto reddened and I sighed. This would get bad if something or someone didn't stop them. Naruto was only second away from launching himself at the dark haired boy.

I stood up and walled down to stand in front of the first row, "Be careful. If you two get into a fight you'll just have to kiss and make up."

Their reactions were instantaneous. Sasuke got the strangest look on his face before shooting a glare my way and Naruto choked on his spit before jerking around to glare at the board. And even if I had the patented Uchiha glare aimed at me, I was glad the situation had been diffused. That is, until Naruto started sniggering.

"What," Sasuke started dryly, "are you doing now, dobe?"

Naruto dragged a chair over to the door, "I'm setting up a surprise for our sensei."

My eye twitched, "An eraser?"

He nodded sagely, his features fox-like with his eyes closed, "It's what he gets for being late."

Sasuke scoffed as Naruto dragged the chair back into place, "Our sensei is a jounin."

Naruto gave him a flat look, "And?"

"A jounin would never," Sasuke stressed, "fall for something like that."

I hummed, "They might, you never know. It'd be better with itching powder instead of chalk dust though."

Sasuke sighed and Naruto grinned.

"But itching powder gets expensive."

Some information from one of my old books came to mind, "If you get rosehip seeds you can make your own."

Before the blond could respond the door shifted, causing all of our eyes to dart that way to see the eraser plop down onto the silver haired man's head.

Naruto busted out laughing only quieting when he stepped fully into the room.

"Well," he stared, looking over us with his one visible eye, "my first impression…"

"I hate you all."

_Fantastic._

_**/ / / /**_

**Fun fact: Nozomi actually knows quite a bit about the properties of plants thanks to the aforementioned book. She just doesn't realize how much she knows because she doesn't really care for said information. **

**And I do have plans for Sakura. I refuse to just throw her away.**


	5. Chapter 5

**/ / / /**

"_If two men on the same job agree all the time, then one is useless. If they disagree all the time, both are useless."_  
**― ****Darryl F. Zanuck**

**/ / / /**

"_One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."_  
**―****Virginia Woolf****, **_**A Room of One's Own**_

**/ / / / / /**

Our team was going to be dysfunctional for a good while; I could already tell even though no one has spoken yet (aside from sensei declaring his hate for us that is). Then again, I already knew this beforehand. Because I was fairly certain Sakura was supposed to be on this team instead of me, and that they'd have this awkward fangirl/boy-not-quite-a-triangle thing going on.

But I was better than Sakura, wasn't I? I mean, I'm smarter than her because I'm older (mentally, that is; at least I think). I was better in the fighting department too, but not by much. Then again, something told me it was because of this team that she grew into something great.

And fate had screwed that up by throwing me in the mix.

"Alright," my eyes flicked up to Kakashi-sensei's face, "so how about introductions?"

Everyone was silent.

Kakashi-sensei sighed and lazily held up a hand, "You know, your name, your likes and dislikes, and your dream. Stuff like that."

"How about you go first, sensei," I shifted where I sat, smiling up at him, "We don't even know your name, and you already know ours."

Well, I knew his name. At least, what I thought was his name. Details are starting to get fuzzy now, and I'm not sure why; but I feel like I've actually _lost_ some memories.

"Ehhh?" Naruto turned to look at me, "He does?!"

Kakashi just sighed as I gave Naruto an odd look.

"Well," I started slowly, "One would think they'd give our sensei our personal files. Besides, my dad had a team a couple of years ago and they gave him _their_ files."

Before Naruto could respond Kakashi interrupted, "Alright, alright. I'll go first."

"My name is Kakashi Hatake and my likes and dislikes, well," his voice was somewhat cheery as he waved us off, "I don't really want to talk about them. As for my dream; I don't have one."

The three of us just blinked, even Sasuke was letting off what seemed like an annoyed vibe off from my left. Naruto just grumbled about only learning the man's name from my right and I just stared up at our sensei, scrutinizing him.

"Now, how about you go next."

Naruto shot up straight from his seat, his previous annoyance forgotten.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like Sakura-chan and ramen – especially Ichiraku's – and I hate the time it takes to cook instant ramen." He held up a clenched fist and looked ready to bust at the seams, "And my dream is to become Hokage one day, believe it!"

Kakashi-sensei stared at him for a moment before moving to look at me.

"Ah, I'm Nozomi Nasake and I like my little sister, goya, anything bitter, Akamaru, and running. I don't like sweet things –"

Naruto spluttered, "What! How could you not –"

My hand lashed out and slapped against his mouth.

"Like I was saying," Naruto screeched into my hand as I continued on happily, "I don't like sweet things, having nothing to do, and I absolutely hate birds.

"My dream," it was kind of funny; I'd never really considered my dream. At one point it was just to survive (which I still want to do, of course), but now, "My dream is to be strong enough to protect those dear to me."

I couldn't help but to think of my family, of Kiba and the rest of his family, Shino, and even my new team. With time I knew they'd be just as important to me as everyone else.

"GWAHH!" Naruto sucked in a deep breath after he pried my hand from his face.

A snicker escaped me and Kakashi-sensei ignored us to call on our silent teammate, referring to him as the brooding one.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," his tone was flat and his mouth hidden behind his steepled fingers, "I don't particularly like anything and I dislike a lot of things. And my dream; no,"

His voice changed, taking on a darker edge, "it's not a dream because I will make it a reality. I will kill a certain someone and restore my clan."

Everyone was silent and Naruto shivered next to me (I even hear him gulp), thoroughly creeped out by our teammate's 'dream.' Given he didn't know why Sasuke wanted what he did; only Kakashi-sensei and myself probably understood what he talking about at the moment.

"Well then," Kakashi-sensei drawled, eyeing all of us, "Tomorrow be at the training grounds at six sharp. We're going to have a survival exercise."

Naruto crossed his arms, "But we did one of those back in the academy!"

"Yes, well, this will be different," Kakashi-sensei's eye curved upwards, the only indication of a smile we could see, "Oh, and don't eat breakfast. You might throw up."

With that he disappeared with a wave, leaving the three of us alone on the roof.

"Well, screw that," I brushed the dirt off of my clothes, "There's no way I'm skipping breakfast."

Sasuke and Naruto frowned.

"But, Nozomi," Naruto started, "he said not to…"

I laughed, "So what? I can't function without food. I'm eating."

Both boys were silent and Sasuke turned to walk away when a loud growl broke the silence. Naruto laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Eh, heh…" His grin was sheepish, "Want to go for lunch?"

Sasuke scoffed, "As if loser. Why would I ever want to eat with you?"

Naruto looked like he would bust a vessel of I held up a hand. "Eh, I'll eat lunch with you Naruto, I mean," I made sure to emphasize the next part, "we're a team aren't we? We'll be dealing with each other for a while. I'd rather not have everyone hate each other."

"Do whatever you want," Sasuke continued to walk away, "I don't need you two, so it doesn't matter."

"Well," I drawled, "Aren't you just a ray of sunshine, Mr. Happy-pants."

It was with upmost pleasure that I saw Sasuke twitch. Or maybe I just thought he twitched; either way, I was satisfied. Naruto huffed next to me before giggling nervously once again after another growl escaped his stomach.

"Oh, yeah, right." My eyes veered towards the main part of the village, "Food. How about Honomi's? It's an Akimichi affiliated place, so the food is really good."

And they had goya chanpuru*. Mmm, goya.

Naruto contemplated things for a moment, probably about to suggest Ichiraku's instead, when his stomach growled even louder.

I blinked and shrugged, "It's really close too."

"Alright," he was nodding enthusiastically, already starting to walk off, "lets go!"

"Naruto, it's in the other direction."

"Ehehehe," he turned around with a blush, "I knew that! I was just testing you, believe it!"

**/ / / / /**

Another reason I loved eating at Honomi's was the atmosphere. It was a lovely, homey little place with wonderful decorations. The food was fantastic too, thanks to Miss Honomi originally being an Akimichi. She had the same mild temperament that I remembered Choji having – though I didn't know is she was one to snap at being called fat or overweight like he is. If I had to guess I'd say she was; I know I would be.

"Man," Naruto slurped up some of the remaining broth from his bowl, "this place _is_ good!"

I grinned, "Told you. It's my favorite place."

"Ichiraku's is still my favorite though," the blond nodded sagely, reaching for his drink. Then, he froze with the oddest look on his face.

"Eh? Naruto," I leaned forward a bit to get a better look at him, "Your face is turning kind of green…"

A strangled sound escaped him before he shot up from his seat and out the door, a faint 'The milk!' barely reaching my ears.

"Milk?" Why would…oh, ohhh. If that had to do with milk, then I could only guess it was probably spoilt milk.

Our server came up and placed the bill on the table and I sighed, "I guess I can add this to his tab."

I paid the girl and got up to leave, my wallet a little lighter than I had expected it to be. It didn't matter though, he was suffering enough as it was now. And Kami-sama knows he'd probably drink rotten milk again at some point.

"Now what?" The chattering from the restaurant faded in the chatter humming in the streets, "It feels too early to go home."

Suddenly, pink hair came into sight and guilt plucked at me again. Sure, I couldn't control that I was on team seven and she wasn't, but still. Without even having to think about it, my path had changed to that I was heading for my former classmate.

"Hey, Sakura." Why was I doing this again? I'd never even properly talked to this girl before. "How's your team looking? Ren and Omaeda doing okay?"

Her head shot up, her eyes wide from being startled, "Oh, Nozomi!"

Even she seemed skeptical of my appearance; not surprising.

"Ren and Omaeda are fine. At least they're not Naruto."

"Hey," my tone was firm and she was once again startled, "no bad mouthing my teammate."

"Oh, sorry. I just…nevermind," she flushed, "How's Sasuke?"

Well, can't say that question surprised me.

"He's a big ball of sunshine," she seemed put off by my tone and I just smiled at her, "Our sensei is weird too. The only part of his face you can see is his right eye."

She giggled slightly, "Or sensei is kind of strange too. His name is Kiyomu Fukuda* and he was really loud. Kind of like an adult Naruto, I guess."

"You mean with the prankster personality and overabundance of energy?" The man's name didn't ring a bell, there wasn't even a little niggling of familiarity.

"Definitely to the second part," the pinkette had a contemplative look, "I don't know about the first part. He said we were going to have some kind of test tomorrow too."

Sakura started ringing her hands, her expression worried. This was what I was worried about too; there was something about her that was screaming that she needed to make it. This test could even make or break her with the mentality she has now.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure it'll be fine." I hoped. "Ren and Omaeda will be there too; I'm sure you can figure it out between the three of you."

"Yeah, thanks Nozomi." There was a new little light in her eyes now, one that I hoped that would carry her through that test.

"No problem, just don't over think things, okay?" I smiled and waved, "I better be getting home now. Bye!"

**/ / / / / /**

My parents had had different reactions when they heard that Kakashi Hatake was my sensei. Father had laughed and then panicked slightly before shutting himself in his room to work on poisons. Mother's eyes flashed with what might have looked like pity before she continued on with dinner.

Isei on the other hand was just plain excited that I was a ninja in the first place. I'd already been coerced by her puppy dog eyes to help her with some of the basics (how can anyone deny the puppy dog eyes, and from a seven year old none the less).

"I can't wait sissy," Isei crooned as she folded some origami cranes, "In a couple years I'll be a shinobi like you, mama and papa."

"You have to pass your academy classes first, all of them, little sis," she pouted at my words.

"I don't want to go to kunoichi classes. They're stupid."

My hand descended on her hand and I ruffled her pale brown hair, "They are important none the less."

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

**/ / / / /**

Mornings are horrible and unethical. No questions asked, and questions unneeded. Kakashi-sensei would probably be late too if yesterday had indicated anything. It was also silly of him to tell me not to eat, because there was no way I was going to give up food.

If we were supposed to do survival training it would be hard to 'survive' without a good breakfast. One always thinks better when they're not distracted by hunger. So that was why I was currently on my third (slightly charred) piece of toast, second glass of milk, and my one extra-large omelet.

Hey, a growing girl has got to eat.

Mother came bustling into the kitchen as soon as I finished washing my plates, a bright-eyed smile on her face. She kissed both on my cheeks before grabbing an apple and a granola bar and rushing out the door. A thump echoed dully from above and I assumed that was father falling out of bed.

"Oh well, he'll be fine," I shrugged before grabbing an orange and heading out the door.

The village was always eerily silent before seven in the morning. There were a few people out after six (mostly shinobi) and there were always a few shinobi lurking around at all times. It made sense that there was no early foot traffic, but it still felt weird.

"Nozomi! You're out early, kid."

"Oh, hello Tsume, Kuromaru," my smile was too bright for it being so early, and I was fairly certain I inherited my morning cheer from mother, "I'm off to meet my team for training."

Tsume snapped, "Ah, that's right. My brat doesn't have to go until eight. Your sensei must be a hardass."

I snickered, "Kakashi Hatake is my sensei. I'm on the same team as Sasuke and Naruto."

"Man, kid," Tsume whistled, "What luck you've got."

"Tsume," Kuromaru growled out, "we should let the pup move on and get moving."

The Inuzuka clan head laughed, "Yeah, yeah. Well, good luck kid."

I waved was the pair left before continuing towards the assigned meeting place, tripping slightly on the step leading up to the bridge. Sasuke rolled his eyes at me from where we was leaning against the railing and Naruto was sprawled out on the ground.

"Well, aren't we all just great morning people."

Sasuke remained silent and Naruto groaned before rolling over and becoming silent once again. I sighed before beginning to peel my orange, chucking the rind in the river. Obsidian eyes flickered over to me and even Naruto's eyes peeked open when a stray piece of peel hit him in the face.

"What?" My eyebrow rose as I stuck a sliver in my mouth, "I told you I was going to eat, didn't I? I mean, did you guys honestly _not_ eat?"

Their blank looks answered that question wonderfully. And even if the looks hadn't, their growling stomachs would have.

"Sheesh, you dummies. Here," I ripped the orange in half and shoved each half into the hands of my teammates, "It's not much but it's better than nothing."

"Hn."

"But, Nozo –"

"Eat it. Now." My tone held no room for argument and the blond gulped.

"Yes ma'am!"

Even though it was reluctantly, Sasuke even began to eat his half without argument. I suppose he was too hungry to even attempt to argue. Or in his case grunt. Not that I could ever understand whether he meant 'yes' or 'no'.

The two were done in no time and Naruto returned to his spot on the ground, groaning about our sensei being late. And he was, which didn't surprise me. It would probably be nine or ten before the man showed up.

**/ / / / /**

A swirl of wind brought our grey haired sensei into our line of sight just after nine, much to Naruto's (and I'm sure Sasuke's) annoyance.

"**You're late!"** Naruto screeched, his finger pointed imperiously towards the man.

"Sorry," Kakashi-sensei smiled with a wave, "A black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way."

I snorted, "And my grandmother rose from the dead to wake me up this morning."

Without even blinking at my statement Kakashi-sensei pulled out two bells and shook them to make them jingle.

"Now," his tone was serious this time, "it's time for me to explain your test."

**/ / / / /**

***Goya chanpuru is a Japanese stir fry with goya (bitter melon).**

***Kiyomu Fukuda is a real character, you can find him on Narutopedia. Nothing is really known about him except that he had a bounty on his head and that he's a leaf shinobi. Yay, creative freedom!**

**/ / / / / /**

**Fun fact: Nozomi will do anything for Isei. Anything. All it takes are the puppy dog eyes and it's a done deal (as long as she doesn't have other plans at the moment). **

**Also, she likes things slightly charred or burnt, like her toast. It gives things a bitter taste.**

**Also also, thanks so, so much for all the favorites, alerts, and reviews! I love you all! Mwuah~!**


	6. Chapter 6

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"_There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."  
__**― **_**Paulo Coelho, **_**The Alchemist**_

**/ / / / /**

"Now," Kakashi's one eye stared us down, "it's time for me to explain your test."

Naruto floundered, "Test?! You said survival exercise!"

"Oh, did I? Well," Kakashi's tone held a false surprised tone before turning serious again, "this is far too important to be an exercise."

Sasuke was silent, just glaring down our sensei – I figured he just wanted to get started. Naruto gulped at the implication. I was surprisingly calm and a strange part of my mind was telling me this was _supposed_ to happen. That I knew this already.

Kakashi forged on, "You have until noon to get one of these bells. Once the time goes off, that's it."

"But there's only two bells!" Naruto jabbed his finger at our sensei and I snorted.

He had amazing powers of observation, no?

"Exactly," Kakashi-sensei's voice drew my attention again, "that means only two of you will pass. The other goes back to the academy."

Sasuke tensed and Naruto yelled out, "What?! But that's not fair!"

I interrupted before Kakashi-sensei could speak, "Life is often unfair.

"But this _is_ fishy," my eyes turned to the masked man, "Teams are four man cells. If one of us doesn't pass, the team will be lacking."

Kakashi just smiled – or so I assumed.

"I assure you," he held up a hand, "That has been taken into account already. All you need to worry your pretty little head about is passing."

I was fairly certain he was about to start the test when Naruto jumped at him out of nowhere, fuming. Needless to say, in a genin vs. jounin fight I think the winner is obvious. That also brings to mind the fact that even our number one rookie Sasuke wouldn't be able to win; he's fresh from the academy, so it was impossible.

Once again Kakashi-sensei pulled me from my thoughts, "Well now, you actually came at me with the intent to kill. I think I might actually like you a little bit now."

We all either shifted or tensed after his statement, ready to spring. Then, he called go and we were gone.

Well, Sasuke and I had left the area. Naruto _still_ thought he stood a chance alone. Which brought something back to mind – something about Konoha screamed teamwork to me. Like we'd be relying on it all of our lives to get through some exceptionally tough situations. The question was: Could I convince Naruto and Sasuke to work together?

My chest constricted and I shut my eyes to center myself, remembering that I _needed_ to pass. I needed this training to get stronger, better. I'd try by myself first, gauge what needed to be done to get those bells.

A screech broke through the silence and I felt some sweat roll down the side of my head as Naruto went flying, courtesy of a jab to the butt from Kakashi-sensei.

I took a deep breath and forced my chakra level to lower a bit, straining to keep it down as I rushed through the brush as quietly as possible. Kakashi-sensei was in front of me now, and in all honesty probably knew I was here. I had to try and figure this out though, so I pulled a senbon from a special pouch.

A special pouch filled with senbon laced with a paralyzing agent my father had taught me how to make as soon as I started at the academy. It wasn't strong, per say. What I had now was slightly diluted, but it would still act quickly and be quite surprising if I could prick him. I chewed on my lip for a moment before quickly sticking one through the thick sole of my left shoe, one point sticking out the left and the other the right, and dabbing some more of the agent on each end.

'_Well,'_ I turned things over in my mind for a moment, _'here goes nothing.' _

Naruto was gaping off to the side when he saw me dash out and swipe at Kakashi-sensei, I even heard his gasp of surprise.

Kakashi deftly dodged my first few swipes, the senbon in my right hand just barely missing him. He himself seemed somewhat surprised, "My, I never thought _you_ would come out and attack me."

I exhaled and instead of responding I struck out again before bending back to dodge. I used the momentum to pull my legs up and twist to lash out with my left leg, praying for this to work. My mouth _almost_ twisted into a grin when he grabbed my foot and his eyes widened upon feeling the senbon pierce his skin.

It was his left hand too, the side where the bells were. He jerked back and I flipped to my feet, eyes carefully darting between his face and the bells.

'_In five, four, three,'_ five seconds and his arm should be sufficiently numb for around ten seconds, _'two…ONE!'_

My arm stretched out for the bells as I darted forward and his body twitched as he realized his left arm was currently unusable. Just when I thought I might make it his body twisted and I jerked back to try and avoid his leg, but failed and flew through the air into a tree.

"Shhi –" I scrambled to my feet and darted back into the trees, the aching pains from hitting the tree already fading due to my healing chakra.

I got extremely lucky out there. Extremely lucky. I now also knew that my paralyzing agent worked for around seven, not ten, seconds on Kakashi-sensei. Though now I had an even smaller, almost inexistent chance at getting a bell by myself. But together we could; I knew we could. It was just a matter of getting cooperation from the other two.

I looked around my tree just in time to see Sasuke engage Kakashi. He even got the man to put away that stupid book of his; though it didn't last. Soon Sasuke was just a head sticking out of the ground. Now was probably the best chance to try and say something, so I turned to take a breath only to come face to face with a wounded and (apparently) dying Kiba.

I blinked once.

Twice.

"Kai." My voice was blank as I released the genjutsu, "That was silly of you sensei."

"Oh? Was it?" Kakashi was leaning against a tree not too far from me.

My head tilted to the side and my hand inched towards my senbon pouch, "My clan's chakra control makes it easier to notice genjutsu. I'd think you'd know that, sensei."

That and genjutsu training was another thing my sadistic mother did to me. I'd be doing things around the house and she'd cast a genjutsu on me until I was able to notice and break it easily. Though it was always a genin level illusion, much like the one Kakashi had just used was.

"Hmmm," he appraised me from behind his book.

My eyes narrowed; one of the bells was missing.

"Kakashi-sensei, where is –" Naruto's scream of indignation bounced through the trees, "…You used a bell to trick Naruto into a trap, didn't you?"

His eye curved, indicating he was smiling, "Yup."

And with a poof, he was gone. I assumed to chastise and screw with Naruto. I glanced back and jumped out to stand next to Sasuke – well, Sasuke's head.

I squatted down in front of him, "Need some help there Champ?"

His eye twitched and the scowl already on his face deepened.

"Well," I turned away at his silence, "I guess I'll just go then."

"…Wait," his voice was pained as he called out.

I turned, "If I help you, will you help me help Naruto to get him to help us?"

He remained silent for a moment to think and then glared, "Why would I need your or the dobe's help?"

"Did you see me attack sensei?"

He nodded.

"I have a paralyzing agent, he knows I have it," I squatted back down, "he wouldn't know if I gave some to you. We also need a distraction. Naruto is loud and orange."

"What about the bells? There are only two," Sasuke's eyes met mine.

I sucked in a breath, this was the hard part. Sasuke would of course get a bell and as ashamed as I am for thinking what I am, my decision on the second one was made, "One for you, and one for me. I need to pass; I _can't _fail out."

Some part of me said Naruto was the one that needed it. That I should give _him_ the bell.

Sasuke considered things for a moment, his face conflicted. His jaw clenched before relaxing with a sigh and his voice reluctant, "Fine."

I hummed happily before chipping away some of the dirt around him and yanking him (probably painfully) out of the hole, "Let's go find our distraction, yes?"

**/ / / / /**

Naruto was tied to a pole when we found him, Kakashi smiling happily next to him. My eyes twitched and Naruto giggled nervously as his stomach growled, effectively telling us _why_ he was tied to the pole. Sasuke muttered from next to me.

"_Figures_ that idiot would do something stupid."

Naruto sneered down at Sasuke as the timer started ringing off to the side. A failure on our part for not trying teamwork in the first place, really. Naruto was too concentrated on proving himself, Sasuke was too sure of himself, and I was too panicked about getting my own bell.

"Well, I think I can say none of you are going back to the academy," Naruto started to cheer at Kakashi's words, only to be silenced by the rest, "You should all just quit being ninja.

"Do you three even know what this is about? I thought maybe at least one of you had it," Kakashi's one eye roved over us, lingering on me, "Answer, anyone?"

My mouth went dry, "Teamwork. Teams mean teamwork that can get us out of difficult situations…like an opponent much stronger than us."

Kakashi held his hands out, "Correct. Nozomi, you came at me first, all by yourself. Sure, you turned to Sasuke afterwards, but you had to bribe him to get his help. _Then_ you were planning to leave Naruto high and dry when you got the bells."

Naruto turned his head to glare at us and I felt like curling into myself. I really did feel horrible about that; but I did need to pass.

"Sasuke, you thought you were better than everyone else. Above them," Kakashi's eye shifted to the dark haired boy, "You may have agreed to work with Nozomi, but only after she bribed you. _And_ you agreed to leave Naruto behind.

"And you, Naruto," the blond gulped, his angry face now scared, "You didn't do anything but yell and come at me. Not even common sense helped you out of an obvious trap. _None_ of you deserve to be ninja."

The three of us were silent and both ashamed and angry. I felt angry tears prick at my eyes and Sasuke's fist shook at his side. Naruto looked ready to burst.

"Tell you what." Our eyes shot back up to Kakashi-sensei, "One hour and you can try again. Just don't feed Naruto, or you will all fail."

With that he disappeared again and we were left with two bentos and a sullen blond. I picked at my food, a heavy feeling in my gut. I glanced up at Naruto before looking back down only to hear a loud growl.

"Ehhehe, don't mind me," Naruto chuckled nervously as another growl permeated the air.

A team works together. The team is only as strong as the weakest – or hungriest – link. Without thinking any further I shoved an onigiri in his face.

"Eat it, Naruto."

Hit head jerked back and smacked into the pole, "Ah! But he said we'll fail!"

"Tch," Sasuke held up his bento too, his face carefully blank, "If you're hungry you can't fight very well."

A sniffle came from the boy and he took a large bite out of my proffered onigiri and promptly spit it out in a scream when Kakashi burst forth from the woods.

"**What do you all think you're doing?!" **

I blurted out the first thing that popped in my head that had to do with teamwork, "All is one and one is all!"

Kakashi-sensei quirked a brow, "All is one and one is all?"

Sasuke stood up, "Yeah. We're a team."

"Well then," the area around us seemed to light up, "You pass!"

Naruto burst out into cheers, his legs kicking about happily (and almost hitting me in the head). My heartbeat slowed down and a crushing weight felt like it was off my shoulders as I gaped up at our sensei. Sasuke just sighed in relief, his eyes closing and his head dipping down.

"Well then, same time and place tomorrow you three!"

Then we were gone. Well, until I realized ten minutes later that Naruto was still tied to the pole.

Whoops.

He was still flailing around once I got back to him, and my presence seemed to both anger and relieve him.

"Why'd you guys leave me there?!"

"Geeze, grateful you are not," I stretched my arms up over my head, "Besides, I said I was sorry. We were just excited."

He huffed and crossed his arms, "Whatever."

I sighed and hooked my foot around his lower leg, running off as he face planted into the ground.

"Cheer up, Blondie!"

All I heard in response were curses fading into the background.

**/ / / / /**

***Fun Fact: Nozomi, if you couldn't already tell, can be very selfish. Though it's mostly out of fear, and she always regrets her selfish decisions.**

******/ / / / /**

**And yes, she did have an actual plan for getting the bells. Would she have selfishly kept her bell had they gotten them? What do YOU think she would have done?**

**What would you have done?**

******/ / / / /**

**Also; Thanks for all the reviews and faves and alerts! I've got almost fifty favorites and nearly one hundred alerts! I really appreciate each and every one of you!**


	7. Chapter 7

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"_My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it." __**  
― Rick Riordan**_

**/ / / / /**

When I thought of becoming a ninja I skimmed right past the boring D-rank missions. I also freaked out and burst into tears when I was younger; not my best days or reactions. Now I realized what we had to deal with _before_ we got to the things that freaked me out years ago and now (though I can't quite remember the details of those things, oddly enough).

Our teamwork still pretty much sucked too. Not that we really had any in the first place, especially after Kakashi ratted Sasuke and me out about kicking Naruto to the curb if we got bells.

Yeah. Not my brightest moment.

It also didn't help that Sasuke and Naruto tended to compete over the stupidest things; though that was mostly Naruto doing things to 'outdo' Sasuke. So, yeah, we sucked. Though we did have our moments. They were fairly rare, but they were there.

Mother had been nagging me about bringing my team home for dinner too; something I was putting off to delay the epic awkwardness that was sure to happen. That delaying was being ended now, she'd coerced me into asking after our next training/mission day.

Okay, maybe _coerced_ isn't the right word. Strong-armed or bullied would fit much better.

Which was why I was dejectedly shuffling to the door this morning.

"Remember, dear," Mother leaned out of the kitchen door, "you're _whole_ team better be at dinner tonight."

That's right, she said _better_ be there.

"Otherwise," she continued on blissfully, "we'll have plenty of free time and lots to do tonight."

**/ / / / /**

Who loses one earring? In the woods; possibly in a lake. Some upper-class woman apparently. Why she was in the woods in the first place, nobody knows.

"So," I drew out the word as we all stared down into the lake, "who's diving in?"

There was a moment of silence before I whipped my index finder up to my nose, Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei quickly repeating my action as I cried out, "Not it!"

"What?! No fair!" Naruto screeched, eyes darting between Kakashi's (I think) and my smiling faces and Sasuke's apathetic, yet slightly amused one.

It was foolproof, our system. I'd started it on one of our first missions, a babysitting one. There were three kids: one was potty-trained, one was halfway there, and the other was only six months old. The halfway there kid had a rather stinky accident and I'd tapped my nose and exclaimed 'Not it!'.

Naruto was last. Naruto was always last.

Said blond grumbled as he stripped down to his underwear to jump in, tripping over as he jumped around to remove a shoe. Something off to the side glittered and I glanced over as Naruto continued stumbling around. I turned and meandered over as Naruto crouched in preparation, Kakashi and Sasuke glancing at me as I did. A splash sounded behind me as I crouched down and moved the grass.

"Well," I turned and held up the shiny object – a silver and jade earring, "look what I found! Lucky, huh?"

Naruto, who had just broken back through the surface, thrashed around, "What?! You mean I jumped in for nothing?!"

Kakashi-sensei smiled and pulled his book up to his face, "Looks like it."

**/ / / / /**

Naruto was still fuming when we left the Hokage's office, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed so much it looked like they were shut. So maybe I could have told him to wait once I saw the shine. Maybe Kakashi-sensei or Sasuke could have told him to wait. But really, it did no good to speculate.

Once we stepped back outside a thought struck me, "Oh! That's right!"

The three guys looked at me with varying degrees of interest.

"You three," I pointed at all three, my voice serious, "are coming to dinner at my house tonight."

Sasuke scoffed, "As if."

My hand lashed out to grab his collar and yank him forward, "You're coming, even if I have to drag you there by your toes.

"That goes for all of you," my eyes narrowed in on Kakashi-sensei, "and I mean all of you."

Naruto fidgeted, unsure. Though part of him seemed excited at the idea, "But why?"

"Because," I shivered, "I might die if you don't."

Naruto looked at me, trying to figure out if I was being serious. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and jerked his shirt out of my hand and Kakashi just smiled enigmatically.

"So, you guys will be there, right?"

"Sure, believe it!"

Sasuke grunted and crossed his arms, "Whatever."

I took that as a yes. He'd be there regardless; I really would drag him by his toes if I had to.

"Well, if it will save my precious little student's life," Kakashi-sensei raised his hands in a 'What can you do' gesture.

I nodded, "Good. Be there at four."

Kakashi nodded before disappearing in a whirlwind and I turned back to Sasuke and Naruto, a grin on my face.

"Be there at five forty-five. We eat at six."

Both looked slightly confused, Naruto considerably more so than Sasuke. His confusion came across in his voice as well, "But you told sensei four."

"Well yeah," I rolled my eyes and laughed, "do you think he'll be on time?"

"Ohhh! Nice one Nozomi!"

"Well, I do try."

**/ / / / /**

After our team had parted ways around three-thirty I headed off towards home only to run into some of my favorite people: Kiba and Shino. Hinata was with them too, but I didn't know the quiet heiress too well.

"Hey you guys!" My cheery smile was met by a rogue grin from Kiba, a shy smile from Hinata, and what I'm going to assume is _upmost_ joy from Shino.

"'Zomi!" Kiba grinned and Akamaru yipped, his tail wagging, "You're team is still functioning?"

"K-kiba," Hinata twiddled her fingers, "be n-nice."

I smiled at the shy girl, "It's okay Hinata; he'll get what's coming to him.

"But to answer your question," I turned back to my childhood friend, "We're doing fine. We're even having a team dinner at my house tonight."

Kiba burst out into laughter and Shino raised an eyebrow. Hinata looked completely confused as I stared down Kiba with narrowed eyes. He knew my parents; he knew how awkward this could (and most likely would) be.

"Good to see you're excited," my lips curved into a smirk and my eyes glittered with vindictive satisfaction, "I'll tell mom to expect you tomorrow night."

He choked on his laughter, spluttering as he did. Hinata giggled behind a hand and Shino shifted, amused.

Don't ask me how I know that. Because I don't even know right now.

"Don't, Nozomi! I'm sorry," Kiba coughed and waved his arms about.

I grinned, "Sorry. I've already made up my mind."

He groaned and Hinata looked at me, "I-is it really t-that bad…?"

"Eh, it can be," I ignored Kiba's whining, "you can come tomorrow too, if you really want to. You too, Shino."

Kiba snapped up straight, "Yes, please, don't make me go alone!"

Shino considered things for a moment, "I suppose I can come. I'd rather like to see what scares this idiot so much."

"Hey!" Kiba growled at his teammate who just looked straight ahead, ignoring Kiba's very existence.

"I, um," the Hyuuga heiress twiddled her thumbs some more, "I'll have to ask my f-father."

Kiba sighed in relief and Akamaru just panted as he sat cozied up in Kiba's coat. I pouted at my childhood friend; it served him right though, for making fun of my teammates (and my pain. Mostly my pain.). I also wasn't too worried about them coming to dinner. It was hilarious to watch my parents harass Kiba. Hinata might be freaked out at first, and Shino would most likely be indifferent.

My teammates though; well, let's just say tonight would be interesting.

"Well, we eat at six! See you guys!"

I yanked on Kiba's hood as I waved goodbye to the other two, a cheery grin still on my face.

**/ / / / /**

Mother rinsed her hands in the sink and Isei peered around the corner, watching me in all of my nervous glory.

"So, they're all coming?"

I bit my lip, "Yes, mother, though Kakashi-sensei will probably be late. I told him to be here at four, so he shouldn't be _too_ too late."

Mother smiled, "Good thinking, dear. Now why don't you and Isei run along now?"

At that Isei scurried around the corner and snatched my hand, "Can you come train with me, please?"

It was moments like these that I loved; having someone that actually looked up to me (both figuratively and literally; really, why did I have to be so short?). I squeezed her hand and grinned before leading her outback, her excited chattering warming my heart.

"Can you teach me to throw senbon? You're really good at it!"

My cheeks heated up at the praise and I pulled out a few (non-paralyzing) senbon, "Of course! Here, hold it like this."

I know, giving real weapons to a seven year old. While most kids still practiced with blunted weapons at this point, it was different for most clan kids. Though Isei was still required to use blunted kunai and shuriken, normal senbon were allowed under supervision.

"Like this, nee-chan?"

"Hmm, here," I reached out and moved her fingers slightly, "now watch me for the hand movements."

If she was anything, Isei was a good listener and very observant. She caught on to the movements quickly, though her aim wasn't too good yet. Though that wasn't stopping her from trying, much like how Naruto never seemed to give up. Isei had that same mindset he had; whether that was a good thing or not I didn't know.

The back door creaked and nervous laughter followed, "Hey Nozomi, we got here a little early."

Another grin crossed my face once I saw a nervous Naruto and an uncomfortable Sasuke, "Hey you guys!"

Isei darted out from behind me, "Are you guys nee-chan's teammates?"

Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head, a loud '_Believe it'_ escaping him. Sasuke just looked away and grunted, though if anything that just made Isei all that more interested in him. She liked the aloof types if I was correct, as she'd been talking an awful lot about some Hyuuga boy in her class. She was too young to like boys – she was supposed to still believe in cooties!

I'm too young to have to deal with this.

"You're really quiet," Isei peered around to look at Sasuke's face, "You must be Sasuke." Her light brown locks ruffled in the wind as she turned and looked up at Naruto, "That means you're Naruto, right?"

"Yeah!" Naruto leaned forward in an attempt to whisper, "And I'm the strongest member of the team too, you know?"

Sasuke snorted, "As if dobe. You were the _dead last_ for a reason."

The blond shot back up ramrod straight and raised a fist, "What was that te-"

Naruto's yelling turned to screeching as I slapped a hand over his mouth, everything he said too muffled to understand. Isei peered around me from her spot next to Sasuke to watch and my smile became a bit too saccharine, "Naruto."

Said boy froze at my happy go lucky tone.

"No bad words around my little sister," I leaned is so Isei wouldn't hear, "Poison her mind and you get _hurt_. No more cursing."

After a rather enthusiastic nod I removed my hand, Naruto flushed in embarrassment and Sasuke smirking in amusement. Mother's voice broke the awkward-yet-warm atmosphere, "Kids, wash up and come sit down! Dinner is ready!"

Isei was the first to run in, us three genin following her in quietly. Mother was fussing at my father in the hall to get cleaned up and I paled; he'd gotten back early. Not that I wasn't glad he was back, but he was the main factor that was embarrassing. A knock came from the front door and I shuffled to answer it as Naruto, Sasuke, and Isei settled in at the table.

"Kakashi-sensei! Just in time," I tugged the reluctant man in, a smile back on my face, "I'm actually surprised you didn't come later!"

Kakashi blinked lazily and eyed the table where my sister and fellow genin were seated, "You lied about the time, didn't you?"

My cornflower blue eyes met his one black one, my voice the happiest it's been all day, "Yep!"

Mother bustled in after that, greeting him and asking him to make himself comfortable and asking me to help get the food. After placing down the different dishes I moved to sit down at the end when father flew in and pulled me into a tight embrace. My face squished against his chest and my shoulder as he shook me in a hug.

"How good it is to see my darling eldest daughter," he crooned before eying my slightly freaked out teammates and indifferent (he'd no doubt met or heard of my father before) sensei and tearing up, "You're growing up too fast!"

Naruto had to stifle his laughter as mother convinced him to let me go, Sasuke had an odd look on his face to the side, and Isei happily accepted the loving squeeze and squeal dad gave her before sitting down.

There was a few second of silence as we all sat down before father leaned forward to eye Sasuke and Naruto, "So, which of you is after my darling daughter?"

Oh _kami_ this was going to be a long night.

**/ - / - / - / - /**

**Fun Fact: Nozomi's father is what embarrasses her the most, but she loves him all the same. **


End file.
